Cotton is perceived by consumers to provide high quality, pure, durable and easy-to-care-for products. Despite this perception, however, heretofore room-size cotton rugs have not been successfully marketed in the United States, even though cotton bath rugs, accent rugs and large area rugs have reportedly been made in other countries. The lack of success of such rugs in the United States is due, at least in significant part, to lack of dimensional stability, durability and style, and ease of soiling.
According to the present invention, it is possible to make room-size, all-cotton rugs (e.g., sizes comparable to quadrate rugs between 3 feet.times.5 feet and 12 feet.times.15 feet) that are dimensionally stable, durable and stylish and may be readily cleaned with a mild liquid detergent followed by a hot water rinse. One of the major features that provides this result is the impregnation of the cotton fibers by a small amount of low-melting temperature polyester.
According to one aspect of the present invention, room-size rugs, e.g., between 3 feet.times.5 feet and 12 feet.times.15 feet, are provided which comprise the following elements: A heat set blend of primarily cotton fibers with low melting temperature polyester impregnating the cotton fibers, the polyester of sufficient proportions and distribution to give the cotton fibers enhanced resilience, strength, and resistance to crushing, pilling and fuzzing when used as a rug. A so primary backing supporting the blend of primarily cotton fibers with properties-enhancing polyester fibers; and a secondary backing supporting the primary backing.
The primary backing is preferably polypropylene, and the secondary backing is an open-weave polypropylene laminated by latex adhesive to the primary backing. The heat-set blend preferably consists essentially of about 70-90% cotton fibers (preferably about 80% cotton fibers) and about 30-10% polyester fibers (about 20% preferred) having a melting temperature of about 250.degree. F. or less. A fluorocarbon water and stain repellent finish is preferably provided on the heat-set blend of cotton impregnated with polyester. The cotton rug may be spot cleaned by moistening with water and padded dry without discoloration or shrinkage.
The invention also relates to a method of making cotton room-size rugs. The method comprises the steps of substantially sequentially: (a) Spinning about 70-90% cotton fibers with about 30-10% low melting temperature polyester fibers (about 20% preferred), to produce blended yanks. (b) Heat setting the polyester fibers in the blended yanks without harming the cotton fibers so that the cotton fibers are impregnated, reinforced, and strengthened by the polyester. (c) Tufting the blended yarns into a primary rug backing web. (d) Attaching the primary backing web to a secondary backing web to produce a rug web. And, (e) cutting the rug web into individual room sized rugs, each having a surface area corresponding to quadrate rugs having dimensions of between about 3 feet.times.5 feet and 12 feet.times.15 feet.
Step (a) is typically practiced by spinning the cotton and polyester fibers into 3.0/1 yarns, and there is the further step, between steps (a) and (b), of ply twisting the yarn into 3.0/2 yarns. Also, there are preferably the further steps between steps (b) and (c) of space dyeing the yarns and cabling the yanks into a 3.0/2/2 configuration.
Step (c) is typically practiced by tufting the yarns into a polypropylene primary backing, and step (d) is practiced by laminating the primary backing to an open-weave polypropylene secondary backing. There are also preferably the further steps, between steps (d) and (e), of foam coating the face of the rug web (opposite the secondary backing) with a fluorocarbon, water and stain repellent finish, and drying/curing the finish. There are also the further steps, between steps (a) and (b), of washing and/or bleaching the yarn and ply-twisting the yarn.
Step (e) is typically practiced to cut the rug web into quadrate rugs having four sides, and there are the further steps, after step (e), of serging the rugs on all four sides and attaching fringes to at least two sides.
The invention also comprises a room-size cotton rug produced by the steps (a) through (e) as set forth above.
It is a primary object of the present invention to produce room-size cotton rugs having good dimensional stability, durability and style, as well as good soil resistance, being able to be easily cleaned with a mild liquid detergent and rinsed with hot water without losing their appearance. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from the inspection of the detailed description of the invention and from the appended claims.